Commonly, office waste paper is discarded by an office worker in simple, open bins. Accompanying the waste paper in the bins may be other refuse, such as food scraps, office items such as discarded paper clips and writing implements, and a range of other items that may or may not be of a recyclable nature. Where an effort is made in the office to separate recyclable items from non-recyclable items, the usual approach has been to provide a dedicated bin for each form of recyclable item. In its most basic form, the approach may simply require a bin for recyclable waste paper and a bin for all other items, such as food scraps, plastic, glass, wood, or metal, which may then be separated outside the office into recyclable and non-recyclable items. However, such an approach has met with limited success as it is conditional on the office worker making the effort to provide separate bins at easily accessible, preferably close together, locations and then ensuring that waste is properly distributed in the appropriate bins. The problem may be heightened by bins going missing, or by having bins with insufficient capacity or holding volume for the type of item disposed of therewithin which may lead to an office worker choosing to discard, say, food scraps in the waste paper bin if the food scraps bin is full.
Another problem associated with providing separate bins dedicated to receiving and storing different forms of waste, whether recyclable or otherwise, is the large amount of space taken up by the waste bins.
Waste containers or bins are disclosed in the prior art that seek to address these problems by providing a number of compartments in the one container or bin.
For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,111,951 discloses a supplemental waste recycling container that can be mounted to the outside of a standard size, commercial wastebasket, thereby providing a dedicated outer compartment for receiving recyclable waste, whereas non-recyclable waste can be deposited within the wastebasket. Alternatively, the supplemental waste recycling container can be mounted to the inside of the wastebasket, thereby saving space around the wastebasket for other purposes whilst retaining two separate compartments that may be dedicated to receiving different forms of waste. Secure mounting of the supplemental waste recycling container is achieved without the need for hooks, clasps or other specialised and separately fitted mounting means which often fail due to breakage or loss of parts. Furthermore, the supplemental waste recycling container is easy to use and is less costly to manufacture than other supplemental waste recycling containers. However, when waste paper is released into the supplemental waste recycling container, the paper impacts with the floor of the container in such a manner that it is caused to fold. Such folding of paper reduces the available paper storage space in the supplemental container, and the supplemental container needs to be emptied more frequently than may be desired.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,417,338 discloses a compartmentalised waste container for segregating different types of waste, and is intended for use in a kitchen environment. The container is comprised of a floor supported large receptacle which supports a hollow shell having a closable lid. Two smaller receptacles are supported within the shell and overlie a part of the opening to the larger receptacle. A space between an outwardly and upwardly inclined front wall of the shell and the two smaller receptacles provides an inclined access passageway that permits a user to deposit refuse into the large receptacle via the access passageway or directly into either of the smaller receptacles by lifting the lid.
The provision of the inclined access passageway serves to facilitate the depositing of recyclable wastepaper into the large receptacle in a manner that will reduce the likelihood that the paper will settle folded therein. This will be due to the guiding effect of the inclined access passageway. However, the user must first lift the lid to gain access to the passageway with the consequence that the user is generally above the access passageway and will likely deposit the waste paper vertically or near vertically into the large receptacle. When this occurs, the waste paper will settle folded in the large receptacle as any guiding effect of the inclined access passageway will not come into play.
These and other examples of the prior art are not suited to provide a space-economical manner of storing waste paper. Nor are they suited to users depositing waste paper from a position laterally remote of the recyclable waste paper compartment of a multi-compartment waste recycling bin, as may typically be required of office personnel who locate waste bins underneath their desks.
It is, therefore, an object of the present invention to provide a multi-compartment waste recycling bin which can readily separate therewithin one form of waste, such as used or discarded office paper, from other forms of waste, for the purpose of facilitating the recycling of at least some of the waste.
It is a preferred object of the present invention to provide a multi-compartment, waste recycling bin that, when a user deposits waste paper into a recyclable waste paper compartment thereof from a position laterally remote of the compartment, will guide the paper to fall in a non-vertical direction to settle flat on a floor of the compartment.
Other objects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following description, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, wherein, by way of illustration and example, an embodiment of the invention is disclosed.